Excelling in Professional Teams

In today's workplace, teams are a vital force, and the majority of business professionals must collaborate on the job. The trend toward teams indicates that many companies consider teamwork fundamental to their success.

Organizations form teams because teams usually

The technical expertise and skills you have in your field are referred to as

Building a team means building relationships. Like all relationships, teamwork develops in phases, from introductions to interactivity.

With this in mind, consider the team described in the following situation.

You are a communication designer for a design company. Your team is working on a project designing an interior office space for an information technology company in New York City. The project is well under way, and your team has been working together for three months now. Formal leadership is no longer necessary because everyone is taking on leadership functions related to their roles. Your part of the project requires you to identify the communication needs of the client and to incorporate those needs into the design plans. In this case, the client needs wireless Internet access and a local intranet throughout the interior. You have already spoken to the supplier. Now you'll need to talk to the teammate overseeing the building to make sure the contractor can handle the job. The two of you agree to meet with the contractor together. After meeting with the contractor, you report back to the rest of the team and smoothly adjust the project plan to accommodate the new information.